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Theresa Snyder ’11 presented a paper titled “Popular Media, Yellow Journalism, and the Penitentes of the Southwest” at the annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain-Great Plains Chapter of the American Academy of Religion. The conference took place on March 18 at the University of Denver. Snyder, from Crested Butte, Colo., and a double major in Southwest Studies and religion, based her conference paper on her senior thesis.

Three Colorado College students will present papers at the April 15-16 meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology-Southwest Chapter, which will be held at Colorado College. The three CC students are the only undergraduates to present at the conference.

Caitlin Bette-Waner ’11, a music major, will present a paper titled “The Apache Mountain God Dance: A Musical Analysis.” Her conference paper is based on her senior thesis. Stephan Gordon ’11 will discuss “Music, Trance, and Healing in Bali.” He is majoring in Liberal Arts and Sciences; his conference paper is based on his senior thesis. Andrew Salimbeni ’11 will present a paper titled “Regional Style in Balinese Gender Wayang Music: A Preliminary Study.” Salimbeni is a music major whose conference paper is based on an independent study project he undertook during the summer and fall of 2010.

The Regional Music Scholars Conference involves the Rocky Mountain/Southwest Chapters of the Society for Ethnomusicology, the American Musicological Society, and the Society for Music Theory. All presenting students have been working with Music Professor Victoria Levine on their senior theses and independent study projects.

Additionally, Tendai Muparutsa, who joined the music department in October as director of the African Music Ensemble, will present a performance workshop on Zimbabwean music on Saturday. Muparutsa, who was born and raised in Zimbabwe, is a doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology at the University of Alberta. A specialist in African musical cultures and the performance of Southern African traditional and pop music, Muparutsa’s dissertation focuses on the role of American women in the global revival of Zimbabwean traditional music.

The conference was organized by Richard Agee and Nilanjana Bhattacharjya of the music department.

Two Colorado College students have been recognized by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Program. Colby Sides was named a Goldwater Scholar and Eric Wigton received an honorable mention.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Program was created to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering.

Sides, a junior, is majoring in biology and Spanish. He plans to earn a Ph.D. in tropical biology, then conduct research in tropical forest succession and teach at the university level. Wigton, also a junior, is a biochemistry major who plans to earn an M.D./Ph.D. or Ph.D. in biochemistry and conduct translational research on chemoprevention in cancer.

In awarding scholarships, the Foundation Board of Trustees considers the nominee’s field of study and career objectives and the extent to which that individual has the commitment and potential to make a significant contribution to the field. To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be going into their junior or senior year and must be nominated by their college or university.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was authorized by the United States Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater.

An author’s reception was held March 28 in the Tutt Library atrium to honor Colorado College faculty and staff who published books, articles, and other works since March 2009. The biennial event, co-sponsored by Tutt Library and the Dean’s Office for the past decade, honored a record-breaking 84 authors this year. Academic books and articles, works of fiction and poetry, entries in reference works, journal articles, music compositions, films, and other publications were on display.

Two Colorado College seniors have received Thomas J. Watson Foundation fellowships for their research projects, enabling them to pursue a year of independent exploration and study outside the United States.

Sophia Herscu, of Amherst, Mass., will study “Social Circus: Trust Building and Empowerment Though Circus Technique.” Her research will take her to Canada, Australia, and Brazil.

Hannah Sohl, of Ashland, Ore., will research “Against the Current: Exploring Migratory Fish Runs and Cultures,” will travel to Canada, Bolivia, Brazil, Bangladesh, India, Mongolia, and Laos for her research.

Herscu and Sohl, both sociology majors, are two of only 40 college seniors across the country to become Watson Fellows. They were selected from a field of 148 finalists, and each will receive $25,000 for 12 months of travel and exploration.

Herscu will examine how circus pedagogy can be used in a new movement called Social Circus, which uses circus technique as a way to build self-confidence and trust in group settings. She will study the ability of the performance techniques to empower women and youth.

Sohl notes that “riverine communities throughout the world depend on migratory fish runs not only for their economic and nutritional livelihoods, but also for cultural identity and a sense of place.” She plans to explore the traditional and contemporary relationships between humans and migratory fish runs, the threats facing rivers and fish, and the various conservation efforts emerging to protect them, and will document the project through a series of podcasts.

This year’s Watson Fellows come from 21 states and four foreign countries, and exhibit a broad diversity of academic specialty, socio-economic background, and life experience. They will traverse 71 countries, exploring topics from sword dancing to pro-gaming, gay marriage to voluntary poverty, migratory fish to nomadic societies, and fiber art to fly fishing.

Two Colorado College professors have received recognition for their work in the form of fellowships and grants.

Associate Anthropology Professor Christina Torres-Rouff has been awarded a Summer 2011 Fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. During her fellowship, Torres-Rouff will draft two article-length manuscripts based on her National Science Foundation–supported work on the biological and cultural constituents of identity in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Dumbarton Oaks, in Washington, DC, is an institute of Harvard University dedicated to supporting scholarship internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape and Pre-Columbian studies through fellowships, meetings, exhibitions and publications.

Assistant English Professor Steven Hayward has been awarded a $9,000 grant from the Embassy of Canada to support the further development of a course titled, “Topics in Literature: Canadian Literature as Cultural Production.” The most recent offering of the course took place in Toronto and Montreal. This grant support will allow additional Canadian cities (Vancouver, Winnipeg and Ottawa) to be added to future versions of the course and will assist in funding student travel to and from Canada.

Six named professorships were announced at the faculty meeting on Monday, March 14. The appointments range from two to three years, are not immediately renewable, and carry an annual stipend of $7,500 to be used for professional development purposes. The basis for selection was exemplary teaching and scholarship. The new appointments are:

Crown Family Endowed Professor for Innovation in the Arts:
Ofer Ben-Amots; music. This is the first year for this professorship.

The A.E. and Ethel Irene Carlton Professor of Social Sciences:
Eve Grace; political science. Juan Lindau held the Carlton Professorship from 2005-2007; Mario Montaño is the current holder.

The Christine S. Johnson Professorship in Music:
Victoria Levine; music.Richard Agee held the first Christine S. Johnson Professorship from 2009-2010 and is the current holder.

The John Lord Knight Chair for the Study of Free Enterprise:
Vibha Kapuria-Foreman; economics. Larry Stimpert held the John Lord Knight Chair from 2005-2007; Aju Fenn is the current holder.

The NEH Endowed Distinguished Teaching Professorship in the Humanities:
Joan Ericson, East Asian Languages.Barry Sarchett held the NEH Professorship from 2005-2007; Tom Lindblade is the current holder.

The Nancy Bryson Schlosser and C. William Schlosser Professorship in the Arts:
Kate Leonard; art.Gale Murray held the Schlosser Professorship from 2006-2008; Peggy Berg is the current holder.

Steven Hayward, Colorado College assistant professor of English, has published “Don’t be Afraid,” a darkly comic novel of adolescent anxiety featuring Jim Morrison – not the lead singer of The Doors who died in 1971, but a chubby 17-year-old living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. This Jim Morrison was born days after the singer’s death, and Jimmy, as most people call him, has been living a largely invisible life, overshadowed by his older brother, and his stern and unyielding engineer father. When the older brother dies, the family’s suburban life is upended and any sense of normalcy is destroyed. The book features humor and energy, as Hayward weaves a story of the undercurrents of family life and the unpredictable ways lives can unfold. “Don’t be Afraid” is published by Knopf Canada.

Brenda Soto, conference manager for Summer Programs, has received the Committee Member of the Year Award from the National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS). The award recognizes a member who has demonstrated exceptional work on a committee that supports the NACAS mission. The award states that Soto maintained continuity of the goals of the group by keeping the members focused on

Brenda Soto on stage with her family at The Broadmoor during the presentation of her award.

assigned tasks and exceeded the requirements of a member, making certain that all deadlines were met and tasks accomplished.
NACAS was founded in 1969 to serve as a one-stop connection for information, insight and opportunity for college auxiliary service professionals, or ancillary, non-academic campus support services.

Soto was recognized at the annual conference, held Nov. 7-10 in Colorado Springs at The Broadmoor hotel, with her and her family on stage. She will be featured in the upcoming issue of the NACAS magazine, College Services.

NACAS members include 760 U.S. institutions, 63 Canadian institutions, and five overseas institutions.

Tia Wood ’10, a current paraprofessional in the geology department, competed with graduate and undergraduate students at the American Geophysical Union conference, held in December 2009 in San Francisco. Wood was awarded an “Outstanding Student Paper Awards” for her presentation “Anisotropy and mantle flow in the eastern Sierras Pampeanas from shear wave splitting” in the Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior category.